Winding Back The Clock
by klutzysunshine
Summary: After Mallory is injured averting the second apocalypse, Coco nurses her back to health - and demands answers.


When stopping the second Antichrist meant going back in time and killing Timothy before he could even meet Emily, Mallory didn't even hesitate. And this time, she forced her way into Hell and stopped Satan himself (finding that particular spell had been pretty tricky and locked him away for several millennia. They had wanted to kill him but that proved impossible but she refused to give up) so he couldn't father another child looking to end the world. Unfortunately, fighting Satan - even with the other witches as backup - didn't exactly prove to be easy (which she expected) and resulted in numerous injuries for Mallory. She felt a sense of satisfaction watching him going down before she herself blacked up. When she woke up in her room at Miss Robichaux's, Mallory was just a little surprised. "No hospital?" she rasped, wincing at the sound of her voice.

Coco popped into her vision. "We didn't want to take the chance - it was just easier to take care of you here," she explained.

"Am I okay?"

Coco responded by glaring at her. "Are you okay? Are you fucking kidding me right now? You march into the academy one day, spouting off about the fucking Antichrist and how you came back in time - _again_ \- to stop this, and how you need our help, no questions asked. We backed you up but now you need to answer our questions. And there's a fucking ton of them, Mallory."

Mallory hissed as she pulled herself into a sitting positions. "And I will answer them," she assured her best friend. "Just give me some time. I've been through the ringer." The sense of despair she felt upon realizing that she had only put off the apocalypse for a few years had only fueled her determination to end this once and for all. She felt bad about erasing the timeline again (not as bad as last time, however) and hoped Timothy was at peace but Mallory didn't regret a thing.

Coco side-eyed her but sighed. "Fine. You need anything? A painkiller? Something to eat? Do you want me to put a movie on?"

She shook her head and immediately regretted it as the pounding in her head spiked. "I'll be fine. Actually, I'm really tired." The exhaustion was pulling her under again and Mallory couldn't fight it.

When she woke up a short time later, Cordelia had joined them. "Coco tells me you were alert the last time you awoke, which is good. How are you?"

Mallory felt her defenses go up even though she couldn't exactly explain why. "Why are you asking me this?" she asked even though she knew.

"We deserve the truth," Cordelia answered sharply. She gazed at her. "You've been through so much, haven't you? Well, I suppose this explains why you knew shit you shouldn't have." She sighed. "Are you ready to explain?"

Mallory bit her lip and nodded, then reached for a surprised Coco's hand. "Can you get the other girls in here? I don't want to have to explain this a hundred times."

"Very well. Coco?" Cordelia gestured towards the other witch.

"I'll be right back." Reluctant to leave Mallory, Coco squeezed her hand and then went to find the other witches. They all filed into the room pretty quickly.

"You done stalling now?" Despite the seriousness of the situation, an amused Cordelia laughed at the glare Mallory leveled at her.

It took Mallory some time to get through the story - she kept stopping every few minutes to cry and pull herself together - but she did it with minimal interruptions. "I'm sorry," she apologized for the tenth time, her voice cracking.

"You have nothing to apologize for!" chimed in a horrified Coco. Mindful of Mallory's injuries, she gently pushed her best friend over and wrapped her in a hug.

"She's right. You've saved the world twice, Mallory, and that's fucking amazing. You did nothing wrong."

Mallory sniffled and leaned into Coco. "Is there a spell to give you your memories back? It's been so hard keeping this all to myself." She hadn't even consulted the others before deciding to time travel again, too irrationally fearful of their reactions, and regretted it now. Maybe they could have helped her before she chose to go at it alone (they had come through in the past - this new timeline, she reminded herself).

"I'm sure we can find it. Get some rest," Cordelia urged, leaning down to drop a kiss on her forehead. She murmured to the girls and they all left - except for one.

As soon as she was sure no one was eavesdropping, Mallory burst into sobs and started crying into Coco's chest. Mallory's breakdown set her off but she started rubbing circles in her back to calm her down. "Shh, it's okay. You're safe now," Coco comforted.

"I'm so fucking sorry," she apologized again.

"Stop that. Mallory, you stopped the apocalypse not once but twice. Nobody blames you for doing what needed to be done." She paused for a moment to collect herself. "What were we?"

Mallory stiffened. "What?"

"There's something you're not telling me. Were we together?" Coco guessed.

Her breath hitching with sobs, she nodded. "In the original timeline, I think we were in love. Well, I was in love with you but nothing ever happened - we were too busy trying to prevent the end of the world, and then our memories were erased. After the world did end, I had to go back in time and created this new timeline. Something always got in our way in the new world when we met - I was too terrified to admit to anyone, let alone myself. But right before I came back, I didn't say anything to anybody but I kissed you for the first time. And it felt like something finally clicked into place."

Coco pulled back from rubbing Mallory's back and beamed at her. "See, was the so hard?" she teased. "Mallory, you're my best fucking friend in this whole entire world. Nothing could ever change that. Not even the fact that I'm head over heels in love with you."

Mallory gasped, although she knew this had been coming on some level. "I love you too, Coco." She wasn't surprised when Coco grabbed her face in her arms and kissed her. "How was that for a second first kiss?"

Mallory laughed and then immediately wished she hadn't when it jostled her injuries. "Pretty fucking good."

This wasn't over - they still had to find a spell that would restore everyone's memories - but Mallory and Coco had finally found each other after the world nearly tore them apart again. They could deal with the rest later.


End file.
